Paper napkin and method of folding the same



Oct. 1, 1929. P. H. HORWITT 1,730,074

I PAPER NAPKIN AND METHOD OF FOLDING THE SAME Filed Aug. 15, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 M IJNVENTOR,

BY w & 7154i ATTORNEYS.

0a. 1, 1929. P. H. HORWITT I 1,730,074

PAPER NAPKIN AND METHOD OF'FOLDING THE SAME File g- 13, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 A 7 BY M 427% ATTORNEYS.

INVENTOR.

Patented Oct. 1, 1929 UNITED STATES FATE PAPER NAPKIN AND METHOD OF FOLDING THE SAME I Application filed August 13, 1928. Serial No. 299,360..

This invention relates to folded sheets of material such as paper and the like for use as napkins, towels and related articles, and

to methods of folding and stacking the same for dispensing purposes. One object of the invention is to improve the folding of such sheets so that they may be readily removed one at a time from packages containing them. A further object is to improve the folding of paper napkins and similar articles so that napkins of widely varying sizes can be packed in and dispensed from containers of one uni- According to one feature of the invention,

the napkins are so folded and stacked that grasping tabs are presented at both sides of the napkin and at either side of the napkin two separate open edges are made available for taking hold of the tabs.

Referring to the drawings: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a cardboard container within which is placed a stack of paper napkins folded in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing a package closed; I

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a folded napkin removed from thecontainer shown'in Fig. 1;

Figs. 4:, 5, 6 and 7 are views illustrating the manner of folding one size of napkin;

Figs. 8 and 9 are similar views illustrating the manner in which a larger size of napkin is reduced to the form of Fig. 4: for further treatment in accordance with Figs. 5, 6 and 7 Figs. 10 and 11 are similar views showing the manner of reducing a still larger size of napkin to the condition of Fig. 4;

Figs. 12, 13 and 14 are similar views showing the manner of folding a still larger size of napkin; and

Figs. 15, 16 and 17 are similar views showing the manner of folding astill larger size of napkin. f

In Fig. 1, I have shown a stack of folded napkins 20 mounted within acardboard container 21 and illustrating the manner in which, the napkins folded in accordance with my in-' vention may be packed to adapt them for shipment and for-being dispensed oneat a time to users. The container is preferably formed with an open front .22 exposing the major portion of the surface of the foremost napkin in the stack. A cover 23 may be opened as shown in Fig. 1 to expose the napkins and may be folded into place as shown in Fig. 2 to seal the package. The particular form of fold for the napkin shown in this package can be best understood by considering the manner in which the folds are made.

Reference will first be made to the manner of folding a small size of napkin, with-reference to Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7. In Fig. 4, I

have shown the napkin sheet 25 of rectangular dimensions,conveniently six and threefourths inches w1de and ten ll'lChGS, long.

This sheet is folded on a center line 26 in a manner whichtmay for convenience be referred to as a book-like fold to produce the folded sheet 27 of two coextensive sections, as shown in Fig. 5. This sheet has a folded edge 28 corresponding to the line 26. An.-

other book-like fold is then made along a center line 29 at right angles to the first booklike fold so as to produce the folded sheets 30 of Fig- 6.- This sheet has folded edges at 28 and at 31. The upper right hand corners of the folded sheet 30, as viewed in Fig. 6, are then folded along the line 32 in opposite directions, one of the two upper corners being folded toward the rear and the other toward the front. The completely folded napkin 33 is shown in Figs.3 and 7, the diagonally folded edge corresponding to the line 32 being shown at 34. V

The corner folds thus made produce two triangular flaps, one at each side of the folded napkin. These corner folds are identical in sizeand preferably made so that their vertical edges meet one another at the folded edge 31 of the final book-like fold and their horizontaledges 36 are spaced from the lower horizontal edge of the napkin as shown in Fig. 7. In this way, the edge 36 of the triangular flaps is made non-coincident with any other edge of the folded napkin and constitutes what I call a free or open edge.

The triangular flap folded back along the line 32 forms in effect a graspingtab on each ide of the folded napkin so that no matter which side of the napkin is presented to the user in the package, the napkin can readily be grasped without any difficulty in separating one article from the next. \Vhen several napkins thus folded are stacked alternately right and left hand in a holder or dispenser, as shown in Fig. 1, the. folded edge 34 of the outside napkin is also a free edge with respect to the adjacent napkin of the stack, and. may beeasily grasped by the user in withdrawing the napkins'one at a time.

It will be noted that the upper folded edges 28 of the napkin, as shown in Fig. 6, are turned down into the flaps of Fig. 7 so that the diagonal folds 3 f meet the junction point 34 of the two preceding book-like folds. This results in giving the flaps 35 folded vertical edges which hold together the different plies of the flap and present a neat appearance. If the lower right hand corner of the napkin shown in Fig. 6 were folded up, the different plies of the triangular flap would be unbound and loose and give an unkempt appearance to the folded napkin.

A slightly larger size of napkin sheet is shown at 40. in Fig. 8, this being for example ten inches wide and ten inches long. When folded upon the marginal line 41, a marginal section with the main section is folded in and the whole sheet is reduced to the form shown at 42 in Fig. 9, having a folded edge at 43.

I This folded sheet42 is the same size as the sheet 25 shown in Fig. 4: and receives further treatment in exactly the same way.

A still larger size of sheet is shown in Fig.

' 10 at 50, thE dimensions of this sheet being approximately thirteen and one-half inches wide and ten inches long. Folded upon the line 51, this sheet is converted into the form shown at 52 in Fig. 11 having a folded edge at 53. This .folded sheet is likewise of the. same dimensions as the original sheet 25 of Fig. 4 and is treated subsequently in the same manner.

A still larger size of sheet is shown at i in Fig. 12, this sheet being thirteen and onehalf'inches square. The sheet is first converted into a size similar to the sheet 50- by folding in a marginal section along the line 61. This gives a folded sheet 62 shown in Fig. 13, having a folded edge at 63. The folded sheet is again folded upon'the line 64, giving the sheet 65 of Fig. ll having a folded edge at 66 corresponding to the fold line 64.

'The process of reducing napkins to the standard size along the lines indicated may be carried on to any desired extent. However,

the largest form which I have chosen to illustrate is shown at 70 in Fig. 15, being approximately thirteen and one-half inches wide and twenty inches long. When folded along the line 71, this gives a folded sheet 72 having a folded edge 7 3 and of the same size as the sheet 50. When folded on the line 7 1, the folded sheet 7 5 of Fig. 17 is obtained, which may be treated in the same manner as the sheet 25.

Referring once again to the package shown in Fig. 1, it will be observed that the napkins are stacked alternatelyright and left handed. The triangular portion 35 of one is arranged at the left and the similar portion of the next is at the right of the package. This manner of stacking gives a well balanced package with no tendency to excess thickness on either size. The open edges 36 and34 are presented by the open front of the container in a convenient position to be grasped when a single napkin, is desired. Pulling a napkin from the stack by grasping the open edge 36 tends to partially open the napkin, which is also a desirable feature. It will also be observed that no matter which side of the folded napkin is presented to the open front of the container, a similar grasping tab 35 is in the proper position.

Obviously, various forms of dispensers may be designed for holding'the napkins stacked.

as shown in Fig. 1, the desirable feature of such dispensers being in each case to expose a sufficient portion of the open edges 36 and 34 of the triangular tabs 35 so that a single napkin may be easily grasped and Withdrawn.

without disturbing the other napkins'of the stack. It is also obvious that the paper articles, folded and stacked as described, may be used for all such related purposes as napkins towels, toilet paper and the like.

What I claim is:

1. A folded sheet of material having a book-like fold and oppositely directed diagonal corner fold-s presenting grasping tabs on both sides of the folded sheet.

2. A folded sheet of material having a book-like fold and oppositely directed diagonal corner folds presenting grasping tabs on both sides of the folded sheet, each of said grasping tabs having a free edge which is non-coincident with any other edge of the sheet.

3. A folded sheet of material having a plurality of successive book-like folds each at right angles to the preceding and a pair of oppositely directed diagonal corner folds presenting grasping tabs on both sides of the folded sheet.

4. A folded sheet of material having a pair of book-like folds at right angles to one another and a pair of oppositely directed diagonal corner folds meeting one another at the junction of the folded edges made by the two book-like folds and presenting grasping tabs on both sides of the folded sheet.

5. A folded sheet of material having a pair of book-like folds at right angles to one another and a pair of oppositely directed diagonal corner folds meeting one another at the junction of the folded edges made by the two book-like folds and presenting grasping tabs on both sides of the folded sheet, each of said grasping tabs having a free edge which is non-coincident With any other edge of the sheet.

6. A folded sheet of material having a marginal fold and a pair of book-like folds at right angles to one another, and a pair of oppositely directed diagonal corner folds meeting one another at the junction of the folded edges made by the two book-like folds and presenting grasping tabs on both sides of the folded sheet.

7. A folded sheet of material having a plurality of successive book-like folds each at right angles to the preceding, and a pair of oppositely directed corner folds meeting one another at a folded edge made by one of the book-like folds and presenting grasping tabs on both sides of the folded sheet.

8. A folded sheet of material having a marginal fold, a pair of book-like folds at right angles to one another, and a pair of oppositely directed diagonal corner folds meeting one another at a folded edge made by one of the book-like folds and presenting grasping tabs on both sides of the folded sheet.

9. A folded sheet of material having an initial marginal fold, a plurality of successive book-like folds, and a pair of oppositely directed diagonal corner folds presenting grasping tabs on both sides of the folded sheet.

10. A package comprising a stack of articles, each comprising a folded sheet of paper or the like, each sheet having a pair of booklike folds at right angles to each other and oppositely directed diagonal corner folds presenting grasping tabs on both sides of the folded article, the direction of the diagonal folds alternating in successive articles in the package.

11. A package comprising a stack of articles, each comprising a folded sheet of material having a rectangular lower portion and a triangular upper portion, said folded articles being stacked in the package in alternately reversed position so that edge folds of successive articles intersect one another and present a free edge for being grasped in removing said articles one at a time from the I package.

12. A method of forming a paper napkin or similar article which comprises folding the napkin sheet upon itself to bring it to a rectangular shape of greater width than height and having a folded edge at its top, folding the sheet book-Wise upon itself, and

then folding back the upper corners to provide grasping tabs on both sides of the folded napkin.

13. A method of folding a plurality of sizes of paper napkins or similar articles intoa uniform package size which comprises folding each napkin upon itself to bring it to a nature.

PAUL H. HORWITT. 

